7 posts tagged “upcycle”

I have spent the past month refining my bag-making techniques, using a few patterns and experimenting with new materials for decoration. I'm so happy with this latest batch, and extra excited to find out if they sell (and which ones), as I just shipped all of them off to a friend who has a few stores in San Francisco. We'll see!

I've started getting newspaper bags from different cities, so now I have some very nice colors to work with.

This is yarn:

This was one of my first successful bags using paper cutouts:

And you can't go wrong with pie:

And this one is my crazy favorite: Guys'n'Pies!

Doesn't it make you hungry??

And my ladies on safari:

It's evolving, and I'm learning a lot about plastic and other materials, and using the stuff cut out from old magazines and such is getting my mind moving in a direction that I haven't gone since my punk zine days. It's fun and so satisfying and it's keeping all of those bags out of the landfill. Each tote uses about 30 newspaper bags, and I'm always needing more, so if any of y'all out there get them with your paper, save them and send them to me! (I'm serious!)

I stopped posting pix of my upcycled bags a while back, but I think now I'm ready to  show what I've been up to.

A friend of mine bought out all of them to give as prezzies (!) which is so cool, and I made a few for a fund-raiser for the cat shelter, and those sold fast, with people wanting to special order more... so I'd say they're in demand. I wish I could make them faster.*

I've definitely settled on using the clear plastic Oregonian bags. They're easy to fuse and it ends up as a very soft fabric, not crinkly like the regular grocery bags. It helps, too, that they're clear, so I've been experimenting with putting leaves and such between the layers.

I found these tiddly wink thingies at a yard sale

I apologize if you are getting bored of all my bag postings. I've been on a roll!

I have a little debate going in my mind about whether it's more appealing to make a bag that's more obviously made from upcycled grocery bags. In making my most recent bags, I have removed words and store names and the result is a much cleaner, more unique fabric to work with. Now I'm wondering if removing traces of the original bags makes them less interesting and more generic. I find that when I'm using my bags at the grocery store, people get most excited by them when they realize what they're made of and that usually happens because they recognize a store logo or name embedded in the bag.

On the other hand, I love creating new patterns and shapes without the distraction of words like WALGREENS or TARGET blaring from the bag.

Any thoughts?

Here's a new version of the car bag. It's smaller and made slightly easier by removing the top flap and attaching the straps directly to the bag. I like this version best. The problem is that it takes many hours to make and I probably won't be able to price it very high. I'm open to pricing suggestions if anyone has some. I plan to sell at the Crafty Wonderland holiday fair if I can make enough. Plus I'll sell my button necklaces. I'm excited!

I made another bag yesterday. This time I scored big when I found a bunch of clear plastic bags that melted together like a dream. In the same batch* I found some bags with the happy farm motif and it all just came together.

The word 'fresh' shows up on bags a lot and I thought it would add a little pizazz to the bag.

I've been working on a new bag, which includes the task of seeking out more and more used grocery bags from recycle bins. This pawing through recycle bins at the grocery store embarrasses Ziggy to no end, especially when I get excited about finding a new color bag. But look at how cool the finished tote is with so much color!

I've also started to rethink the 8-ply vs. 4-ply question. With careful use of the iron at a low temp, you can do 8-ply and come away with a sheet that's not too crispy/still flexible and very strong.

Here's the back:

I've been using my other tote for groceries and it never fails to attract attention. People get pretty excited to hear it's made out of old grocery bags.

I think it makes Raskal look smaller than he actually is:

I've jumped on the bag-wagon after watching that MAKE video about how to re-use plastic bags. It's such a clever idea, and seems somehow less scary/more forgiving than sewing with fabric, so I got out all of my bags and the iron. There are many kinks to work out, such as ironing temp and technique, so I'm sure that bag #2 will be more sophisticated.

I had a couple of huge blue garbage bags that I was storing stuff in and I used those thinking they would be very strong, and I was right.

I noticed in the MAKE video that she says to fold them 8-ply, but if you watch her, she does it 4-ply. I found that 8-ply didn't work very well under the iron and the plastic fabric (plastric?) became too hard.

Here's the other side:

I was inspired to stick leaves between the plastic layers and it turned out pretty cool. I'm curious to see how long it takes for them to turn brown. It will be a fun thing to do in the Fall.

I am aware that my sewing skills leave something to be desired, but in the end I kinda like the rough look of the stitching. Someday maybe I'll get better/less sloppy with my stitches.

Yes, those are Target bags that I used, and the clear bags are the ones that the Oregonian comes wrapped in when it's delivered. I like that you can see the recycle symbol there next to the leaf.

Tote-side

I can't wait to buy a bunch of groceries and try it out!

Tote-inside

I sent the MAKE link to Mamagrrl and she made a sweet bag, too. I got the inspiration for the tote pattern from her. If anyone else out there makes one, let me know! I'd love to see what you come up with.